By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

Everything from helicopters landing on Rathert Field to old baseball teams that used to play at the 82-year old facility in Junction City were remembered by a group of local residents on Sunday at the Geary County Historical Museum. The occasion was a memories at the museum session where the information was recorded and videotaped for the museum archives.

Some of those who participated included the current general manager of the Junction City Brigade baseball team, Cecil Aska, plus Sonny Ehm who played and coached on teams, Ron Johnson, Terry Heldstab and Dewey Terrill who have all witnessed numerous games at the stadium.

Ehm remembered during his time coaching the Junction City Blues American Legion team the squad competed in a league with teams from other cities. The fans from the Kansas City area preferred to drive to Junction City to watch their teams play at Rathert Field.

Aska grew up in a house located  just beyond the right field fence of the ballpark for many years. He spent countless days and hours at the ballpark as a youth and now runs the successful summer collegiate basesball team.

There were memories of the two times helicopters were required at the ballpark during the Junction City Generals era. One was used to dry the infield area after rains, while the other was an emergency helicopter used to transport a crew member to a hospital after he was injured when he got too near a cannon being fired as part of a promotion.

Great players who performed at Rathert Field were remembered. Former Negro League star, Buck O’Neil, who played there as a young man, returned to the ballpark many years later to help rededicate the field after improvements were made to the facility including a new roof over the grandstand.

There were discussions about race relations in America over the years, but how baseball at Rathert Field rose above that.

Historical Society Director Katie Goerl noticed following the memories session that Rathert Field is a unique part of the community. “It has been for many years, and one of the unique aspects of it that remains is that it brings a whole bunch of people together in one place where we can all congregate and talk together like neighbors, the neighbors that we are. But today that doesn’t happen quite so much with social media.”

Today Rathert Field is home to the Junction City Blue Jays, Junction City Blues and the Junction City Brigade baseball teams but it also served another purpose over the years. The facility was host to livestock shows during the 4-H Fair. Mary Kay Munson remembered her family showing cattle there at the fair when it was located in that part of the city.